All Love Lost (ON HOLD)

Chapter 16

I landed at JFK International Airport the next morning at about 9 o'clock. Since I'd gone out to a club with Olivia the night before paired with the fact that I had a hard time sleeping on airplanes, I hadn't slept a wink.

Once we landed, I pulled my small duffle out of the overhead compartment and dragged my tired body off of the plane and through the busy airport. After getting my suitcase from baggage claim, I wasted no time making the trek to the garage where my car was parked. When I'd loaded all of my luggage into my trunk, I made the long, traffic ridden trip through the city.

My first stop was to pick up my baby from dogcare. I walked into the simple building, signed and paid the expensive bill before they brought Bear out. Upon seeing me, he sprinted as fast as his stubby legs would carry him towards me.

"Hey baby! Mommy has missed you too!" I matched his excited energy while scratching underneath his chin. "You ready to go home?" He barked in response as if he understood what I was saying and I took that as our cue to leave. After thanking his care givers, I attached his leash to his collar and left the building.

I spent another hour wading through the thick New York traffic before arriving at my high rise. I only grabbed my purse, my laptop and Bear, because I was too tired to get my luggage out of the car, and dragged up to the empty condo.

As soon as I unleashed Bear, he took off to do his own thing. After, filling his bowls of food and water, I retreated to my bedroom and fell asleep almost instantly. Having been running off of no sleep, I was too exhausted to do anything other than sleep. Especially after the wild night out I had with Liv.

Instead of going to a nice restaurant and chilling, Liv insisted we go club hopping. We'd gone to two popular clubs before we finally settled in at an underground gay club near the beach. We were dancing and just having the time of our lives being able to enjoy ourselves without the hassle of having overly aggressive men vying for our attention.

It wasn't until about three o'clock when I realized I needed to head to the airport to catch my flight. Luckily, I'd thought ahead and packed my things into the car before going out, in preparation of losing track of time.

I definitely missed my friend and even some of my extended family, but even in the short time I'd been here, I'd grown to call New York home and I missed it. I also missed my dog as well as being able to sleep in my own bed.

Even with all of my clothes and shoes on, I managed to sleep for almost 9 hours. When I opened my eyes, I could see that the sun was going down by the faint orange and red tones shining through my window.

Eventually, I pulled myself up from the bed and took a long, much needed shower. When I got out, I threw on some tights and a hoodie and took Bear outside. We walked a few blocks to the nearly empty dog park where I took off his leash and let him run free. I took that time to take a seat on the nearby bench and relax.

I pulled out my phone and noticed I had a plethora of missed calls and texts, most of them coming from Olivia. It was then I realized I didn't tell her when I got back. I immediately called her and after she got through all of her dramatics, I informed her of my safe arrival. We chatted a little longer before ending the call.

I then scrolled through the rest of my messages and responded to those that needed answering. When I came across Adrian's name, I couldn't help the grin that crept onto my face. It was just something about him that made me feel like a giddy teenager all over again. Once I opened the message thread and read his most recent text, I rolled my eyes.

Adrian: Are you dead?

I scrolled up to see that he'd texted me three times since I landed. I quickly typed a response.